Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Charles Town (5.9%) than in 73% of U.S. towns
Only 8% stay in Charles Town for work; outside it, Ranson corporation is the main destination (7%, 3 miles). Charles Town grades B for jobs and income and B for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 21% of workers (West Virginia 9%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Charles Town, in a few figures
Charles Town trades workers with the towns around it
Charles Town has about as many jobs (2,868) as working residents (2,993), but they are mostly different people: 2,755 residents leave for work each day while 2,630 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Charles Town are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Charles Town’s commute
The biggest draw, Ranson corporation, gets only 7% of working residents, and 68% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Charles Town residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Charles Town workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 27 across West Virginia. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Charles Town works from home
21% of Charles Town workers work from home, against 9% across West Virginia. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Charles Town is services
87% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 5% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Jobs & income in Charles Town: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Charles Town is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #12 of 61 in West Virginia. The poverty rate holds Charles Town’s grade up (6.5%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Charles Town could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Charles Town on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,755 residents head out to work, 238 work right here, and 2,630 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where Charles Town’s working residents head each day
Where Charles Town clocks in
4% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
A commute of about 36 minutes in Charles Town
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charles Town workers work from home, vs 9% across West Virginia. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,009 commuters (the 21% who work from home are left out). Across West Virginia: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Most jobs in Charles Town are in services
2,868 jobs are based in Charles Town.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charles Town, 2013 → 2023: 2,932 → 2,868. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Charles Town’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Charles Town’s workers travel
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most of Charles Town commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Charles Town is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #41 of 61 in West Virginia. Both inputs place Charles Town near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,794 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.5% of Charles Town households have no vehicle (West Virginia 8.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Charles Town’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,600, Charles Town ranks 1,465th of 2,867 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 640 | Bridgeport WV | 9,427 | $100K | 3.9% | 2.3% | 28% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 685 | Cheat Lake WV | 10,902 | $117K | 6.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,259 | Ranson corporation WV | 6,853 | $90K | 12.0% | 2.5% | 11% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,463 | Mooresville IN | 10,173 | $69K | 13.0% | 3.4% | 12% | B |
| 1,464 | Le Mars IA | 10,760 | $75K | 9.2% | 2.8% | 51% | B |
| 1,465 | Charles Town WV | 9,329 | $89K | 6.5% | 5.9% | 8% | B |
| 1,466 | Cincinnati Township IL | 8,825 | $84K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 6% | B |
| 1,467 | Phelps NY | 6,559 | $80K | 10.2% | 3.1% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,867 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Charles Town, the top three, the last and three more from West Virginia.
How Charles Town compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charles Town workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Town | – | B | B | 36 min | $89,263 |
| Ranson corporation | 7% | B+ | B | 31 min | $89,523 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Ranson corporation. Darker towns draw more of Charles Town’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Charles Town: questions
What is the median household income in Charles Town?
$89,263 (±$15,234) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $59,608 across West Virginia and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charles Town?
6.5%, against 16.7% across West Virginia and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charles Town?
36 minutes each way on average, against 27 across West Virginia and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charles Town work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ranson corporation (7%, 3 mi), Martinsburg (4%, 14 mi), Leesburg (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Charles Town walkable?
Charles Town is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charles Town without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charles Town, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charles Town
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.